Climate Change, Air Quality, and Human Health

At CEP we’re seeking to frame the conversation about climate change with an emphasis of how it affects air quality and thereby human health.

Through a Recognition Grant from the Kansas Health Foundation, CEP formed a Clean Energy = Clean Air Coalition which includes experts in public health, air quality, environmentalism, and community engagement. The Clean Energy = Clean Air Coalition met to discuss where we are currently and where we’d like to be with regard to engaging the public on making this important connection.

Populations most impacted by air-pollution have the most to gain from reduced emissions, yet the connections between clean air, and expedient emissions reductions (renewable energy/energy efficiency) are not readily apparent. Educating the public on the extensive health benefits resulting from clean energy and energy efficiency will lead to increased support for clean energy policies and improved public health.

Improved air quality reduces premature deaths, heart attacks, asthma, respiratory infections, and strokes. Cutting carbon emissions at power plants by 32% nationwide will reduce hundreds of thousands of tons of harmful particulate pollution, resulting in improved public health. This public education initiative will connect individual energy efficiency measures and support for renewable energy with reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, improved air quality, and positive health impacts in the Shawnee, Douglas, Miami, Leavenworth, Johnson and Wyandotte County.

CEP convened a Clean Energy = Clean Air Coalition to collaboratively highlight the health benefits of clean energy and encourage future clean energy/air policies, thereby accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy while improving public health in Kansas. The Clean Energy = Clean Air Coalition will provide relevant community education about the health risks from power plant emissions, including increased respiratory illness, lung diseases, and asthma.

Informed by this work, CEP will host community dialogs connecting the public to the issues while seeking locally-relevant solutions. CEP is actively seeking partners working in Douglas, Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami, Shawnee, and Wyandotte counties.

To sign up to co-host a dialog, fill out this form. Or contact Jamie Hofling, program director, for more information at 316-990-2925 or via email at Hofling at Climate and Energy dot org.